“Love Letter,”Movie of the Month at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center

December’s movie of the month, at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma, is called “Love Letter.” In the storyline of the movie, Hiroko Watanabe who loses her finance, Itsuki Fujii in a mountain climbing accident. On the day of his memorial ceremony, two years after his death, Hiroko looks through his high-school yearbook at his parents’ house. Hiroko records the address she sees under the name “Itsuki Fujii” in the yearbook, and decides to write him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply from Fujii. Unsure who sent the reply, she keeps writing him. The movie cuts back and forth between Hiroko and a Female Itsuki, based on the letters they send to each other. The movie is 117 minutes long, is rated PG, and came out in 1995.

Kyungwon Song, APPC Movie Night Programmer, commented: “This movie is a beautiful story about a lost love and nostalgia. The ideal and innocent love in this movie is reminiscent of old fashioned love. The film gives viewers an opportunity to take a glance at the modern Japanese lifestyle, and understand their psyche and emotion.” The movie was filmed in the city of Otaru, famous for its glass work studios. It is a popular tourist destination in Japan. In the film, the winter landscape of the mountains and the evocative cinematography evoke visual pleasures. The movie was very successful in Japan and other East Asian countries, especially South Korea.
The storyline became a cultural archetype of Asian romance movies and TV dramas.

The Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma hosts free, monthly Asian cultural movies for the public to enjoy on the big screen. The APCC Movie Night started as a way to show and learn about the different Asia Pacific cultures. It takes place at the APCC auditorium every third Thursday of the Month.

Kyungwon explained, “We try to come up with the movies from 47 Asia Pacific countries that we represent. We have seen movies from Samoa, India, Japan, China, Mongolia, Australia, Taiwan, Bhutan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea. We offer a free discussion after viewing the movie to share their culture by those who came from those countries, or visited the place, and offer their point of views.”

The movie showing will take place on Thursday, December 19, at 7 pm in the Asia Pacific Cultural Center Auditorium: 4851 South Tacoma Way Tacoma, WA.